How Much Insurance Coverage Should One Have?

[Jackliz]

Howdy, Y'all.

How does one decide how much insurance coverage to have on an RV and/or toad?  i.e., $100,000 per person, $300,000 per occurrence, etc?

Regards,
Liz

 

[Ned]

I assume from the numbers you're asking about bodily injury/personal property coverage.? I would carry the same amount as you would if you lived in house, 100,000/300,000 is probably a minimum.? Better yet is a single combined limit of $1,000,000, that's what we have on our policy.

 

[Ron]

I agree with Ned.  Sounds reasonable to me and as I recall that is what we carrytoo.

 

[Kirk]

If you are speaking of medical coverages, it is the exact same issue as with your car. And the very same risks. If you are thinking of other liability issues, a good agent is your best bet. Check with one of the agencies that specialize in coverage for RVers.

 

[Jackliz]

Thank you  for the replies.
1.  We do have our WL and toad insured.
2.  A good insurance agent will sell you as much insurance as HE thinks you need.(Hidden agenda there or maybe not so hidden.  ;D) After all, that is his livelihood. Now, how does he decide? What criteria does he use for suggesting how much?
3.  I was seeking some criteria, financial, historical or otherwise, for deciding how much insurance coverage is necessary. 
4.  We have insured our vehicles with one company for 30 years. And for 12 years, have overpaid(in my opinion) for insurance on our motorhomes. Having just changed insurers, I am paying HALF for more coverage than I previously had. PLUS the previous insurer based the premiums on what my WL's original retail selling price was. I don't think that is fair.

Having insurance is a gamble. One hopes that one never has to use it.

OK, off of my soapbox.
Regards,
Liz

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

With today's medical costs, $100,000 per person of bodily injury liability is barely adequate to cover a bit of hospitalization for an accident victim. So if your criteria is having enough to pay the other guy's expenses in case of a serious accident, then 100k/300k is probably a minimum and 200/500k a more comfortable figure.  The higher limits may not cost very much more either, since the risk to the insurer does not increase proportionally.  Consider property damage also - how much damage to osmebody else's property could you cause at today's prices?

But the other criteria for insurance is how much of your own personal wealth is at risk?  If the other guy sues for a million but you only have $50,000 in assets and $100k of insurance, his $1M judgement doesn't mean much.  It could wipe out your assets, though. Depends on the type of asset and the laws that apply in the state where the asset reisdies and where the lawsuit is judged. Not all your assets may be at risk. For example, in Florida you cannot loose your "homestead" to a lawsuit as long as you live in it.  [Not sure if your fulltime motorhome qulaifies as a homestead, though - I doubt if the legal question has ever come up].  You will probably want to learn a bit about Texas laws on this subject.

 

[Chet18013]

Jack & Liz,

You're talking about the minimums required by law. What you should also do is investigate a "Personal Umbrella" policy to cover any excess claims above the coverage of your st'd policy. They are not to expensive, and can sure be a help if you get in a position where the 100K limit doesn't cut it, as Gary pointed out.

Chet18013

 

[Shayne]

When does anyone ever have  enough insurance.  Get what you can afford and pray it's enough.  HOpe you never have to use it and go from there.

 

[Karl]

Gary,

At least in Wisconsin, a mobile home is defined as follows; quoted in part from Section 66.0435

(d) ?Mobile home? is that which is, or was as originally
constructed, designed to be transported by any motor vehicle upon
a public highway and designed, equipped and used primarily for
sleeping, eating and living quarters, or is intended to be so used;
and includes any additions, attachments, annexes, foundations
and appurtenances.

There are distinctions made for "dependent" (not having complete bathroom facilities), and "nondependent" (those that do), but they have no bearing on whether it is considered a homestead. The only thing that matters is that it is your primary residence. Size also is not a consideration, but does factor into if or how it is taxed. 

I have an umbrella policy, but as you wisely stated, individuals should check their respective state laws just to cover their assets.

 

[Bob McNabb]

Thank you? for the replies.
1.? We do have our WL and toad insured.
2.? ?A good insurance agent will sell you as much insurance as HE thinks you need.(Hidden agenda there or maybe not so hidden.? ;D) After all, that is his livelihood. Now, how does he decide? What criteria does he use for suggesting how much?
3.? I was seeking some criteria, financial, historical or otherwise, for deciding how much insurance coverage is necessary.?
4.? We have insured our vehicles with one company for 30 years. And for 12 years, have overpaid(in my opinion) for insurance on our motorhomes. Having just changed insurers, I am paying HALF for more coverage than I previously had. PLUS the previous insurer based the premiums on what my WL's original retail selling price was. I don't think that is fair.

Having insurance is a gamble. One hopes that one never has to use it.

OK, off of my soapbox.
Regards,
Liz

Liz, I'm an insurance broker (55 years in the saddle and I'm getting weary) and I'm one of those guys that requires a client to insure TO MY MINIMUMS, which just happens to be $500,00 CSL for basic coverage and $1,000,00 Umbrella over that basic coverage. I "walk" if a potential client doesn't agree.....and my attitude is based upon my personal experience.

Some years ago a client had a serious accident which involved a commercial truck laden with expensive cargo. It ended up with over $800,00 of _property_ loss. There were no injuries. That client had only $100,000 coverage for Property Damage Liability when he first came to me (almost 35 years ago) so he became a believer after that claim was settled. In fact, he became almost evangelical about having higher limits.

I would remind everybody in this forum that we're sometimes viewed as "rich" because we can afford an RV and enjoy travel in style. Consider that there's a perception that comes before a lawsuit and it involves the notion about "deep pockets"......and remember that after the policy limits are exhausted the other party can then attach your personal assets and the remaining unpaid balance can exist for 15 years, which is the term of a judgement. The underinsured loss is the most expensive "insurance" you'll ever buy, so don't complain about insurance costs. Nobody is being cheated. It's a matter of choice. A good agent isn'y motivated by greed, but rather the part he may play in not having provided adequate coverage....which can and does often end up in a claim against that agent. That's why he buys "Errors and Omissions" coverage on his office.

 

[Al C.]

>>>A good agent isn'y motivated by greed, but rather the part he may play in not having provided adequate coverage....which can and does often end up in a claim against that agent. That's why he buys "Errors and Omissions" coverage on his office.<<<

Very well spoken, my friend.... You are my kind of Agent.

Al

 

[UK-RV]

Insurance - one of my favourite subjects since being in the US.

We insured our new $178,000 MH for $1700 (Progressive), which a lot of people have said is expensive - I agree, but it equates to around ?1000, which would be cheap in the UK.

We came to insure our $14,000 Ford Focus and struggled to find anyone to even quote for us - in the end we had to pay $1400 for 6 MONTHS cover ($2800 yearly) - again with Progressive !!

I understood that we dont have a US Drivers Licence and we would have to pay more due to that - as we had no driving history in the US.

However, I was less than impressed that the Insurance Company insisted we fax a copy of a letter from our UK Insurers which confirms we have "at least 7 years of no claims" - so they want proof of a clean driving history, but wont acknowledge you have a clean driving history.

CRAZY !!

Paul

 

[Tom]

Paul,

FWIW we paid very high insurance premiums on our cars the first year in the U.S., even with many years of "no claims" in the UK. the following year, our premiums dropped by 50%. That was 25 years ago, so I'm not familiar with current practice.